152 Reflections hy a Resident of the Hill Side. [Marcli, 



graced a corner of our little garden for several years. And even in tlie 

 dreariness of winter do we love to go out and look over t^ese beds, until 

 our imagination sees the peeping crowns, and ruminates, on from their 

 fecundation, until the very fragrance of a " McAvoy Superior" graces 

 our sense of smell, and the delicious taste insinuates itself into our 

 very mouth. These beds are sacred ; and we never trust any rude mor- 

 tal to mulch, hoe, transplant, or dig around the tender plants. 



Perhaps if we were the owner of " broad acres," instead of the cir- 

 cumscribed space in a city suburb, our affections might find other objec-ts 

 upon which to bestow some of its intensity. As it is, every thing, save 

 and excepting our roses, tulips, hyacinths, and a few annuals, is cen- 

 tered upon the strawberries. Not a morning in the month of May but 

 wc go to our chamber window, with half finished toilet, and look out 

 upon the strawberry bed, and note the progress of growth made through 

 the night. What is more enchanting to a lover of nature than to see 

 the fresh green foliage all covered with dew, that sparkles like gems, or 

 diamonds, more rich than the treasures of Golconda ! Hour after hour 

 is beguiled away from the cares of business, in the spring, in watching 

 the progress of their whitening bloom. They seem to have a face full 

 of little starry eyes, and look up at one with such placidness as beto- 

 kens the truest affection. Then the myriads of flies, winging about from 

 pistilate to staminate, and from staminate to pistilate, all seemingly 

 busy in their dainty employment of forwarding the process of impregna- 

 tion, at once attracts our undisguised attention. Eeader ! are you a 

 skeptic? If so, just place yourself here beside us for a few moments, 

 and watch these winged insects. They are small creatures, it is true, 

 but there is nothing in the universe of God too small to demand our 

 special notice. See this fly as he lights upon a " Longworth Prolific," and 

 after a moment's apparent rest, how he sails upon a " McAvoy Superior," 

 bearing upon his tiny feet the pollen, or fecundating dust, which is 

 mechanically distributed upon the pistil, which insures its fruitfulness. 

 Can you explain all this ? Are you still a skeptic ? You seem to waver. 



You have held many arguments with the learned and the wise, and 

 always claimed a victory in debate. Y^ou can not surely falter now, or 

 acknowledge yourself out-argued by these little silent monitors ! Then 

 look aloft ! We are glad from our heart of hearts to hear you exclaim 

 that, " The Timid that ynade us is Divine .'" 



How anxiously do we watch our plants from their flowering to their 

 fruiting. Every change, from the little green formed berry, every 

 shade, hue and tint until ripe, is carefully and most clicerfully seen. 

 And then, what re-unions among one's friends. Pirst, the little birds 



